Editor's note: For an overview of the project and images of the planned building, go online.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.—In recognition of the project’s lead donor, the Smith College Board of Trustees recently approved the name “Ford Hall” for the college’s planned science and engineering building at Green Street and Belmont Avenue.

The name recognizes the $10 million leadership gift from the Ford Motor Company Fund, which supports programs that emphasize diversity in engineering and business, and those that link classroom learning with real-world projects and issues.

“It is a great honor to know Smith College’s new state-of-the-art science and engineering building will bear the Ford name,” said Sandra E. Ulsh, president of the Ford Motor Company Fund.

“The building, designed with an emphasis on sustainability and energy efficiency, will be a teaching tool for tomorrow’s scientists and engineers,” Ulsh said, adding, “As a society, we need women leaders in these fields—leaders who promote environmental responsibility.”

Smith expects to break ground on the $73 million building in the spring of 2007 and display the name Ford Hall near the main entrance on Green Street. The 140,000-square-foot structure will house the Picker Engineering Program and the departments of computer science, molecular biology, chemistry and biochemistry.

“Both a structure and a symbol, Ford Hall will be a visible statement of Smith’s public identity as the women’s college with the strongest programs in science and engineering,” said Smith President Carol T. Christ.

Ford’s building gift is part of the company’s broader efforts to support Smith’s engineering program—the nation’s first at a women’s college. In recent years, Ford Motor Company awarded more than $2.5 million to the Picker Engineering Program to foster its development, and the company has engaged Smith seniors in real-world design projects.

Smith College is consistently ranked among the nation’s foremost liberal arts colleges. Enrolling 2,600 students from every state and 60 other countries, Smith is the largest undergraduate women’s college in the country.